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Days like This, No 22: An August Bank Holiday Secret
I HAVE resolved to leave my hiking boots in the back of the Mini Estate this August Bank Holiday and avoid the Lake District fells. The reason is simple. The roads will be crammed with Vauxhall Vivas,...
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Forgive Them Their Trespasses?
IT’S a perfect spring morning in 1982. Arkengarthdale slumbers green and shadowy beneath a blue sky as we sit in damp grass and drink tea from tartan Thermos flasks. Nothing moves except the wind in...
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The High and Mighty Mines of Lújar
A hard slog to the ancient mines on Sierra de Lújar, in southern Spain . . . Continue reading →
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In the Valley of the Toril
PATHS. They begin at our door and run through our lives. They rise and buckle and lead us to unknown places. They appear in all guises: woodland paths; coastal paths; moorland paths; paths of...
View ArticleOf Mice, Men, Mountains and Motors
AS the celebrated Scottish poet Rabbie Burns scribbled in the year 1785: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley/an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain for promis’d joy.” How true. In...
View ArticleRivers and Rocks, Tracks and Tunnels
DAWN in a river valley. Ink-blue shadows beneath tall mountains. A chill in air that is perfectly still. Smell of piny trees and the sound of rushing water. Pin-pricks of red lights as a truck crosses...
View ArticleDays like this, No 27: The Old Man of Hoy
ROBERT Louis Stevenson; John Buchan; Enid Blyton; Daniel Defoe; Jules Verne; William Golding; Arthur Ransome; CS Lewis: Jonathan Swift; RM Ballantyne. They had many things in common. But the link that...
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Not Everything is Black and White on Barningham Moor
I DRIVE the rattly van to the top of Barningham Moor and it gets stuck in slithery grass while I???m trying to park. I stall the engine and can???t start it again because the starter motor jams. Mist...
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Sweet Tees Flow Softly (Black Friday Aftermath)
IN this land of eternal gloom, where fog hangs in grey air and moisture drips from autumn berries and bedraggled sheep, Romans once marched to distant outposts on a cold northern frontier. They crossed...
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A Christmas Walk: With Ghosts on Baysdale Moor
I AM wary of the North York Moors because they are more than a little bit sinister. They are wild and empty, peppered with the scratchings of forgotten people, laced with legends, and punctuated with...
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The 235 Steps
DURHAM is a great place for walkers. Excellent paths follow a winding riverside and fork up into the traffic-free city centre, which because of its historical significance has held Unesco World...
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Days Like This, No 11: Above Clouds on A??? Chr??laig
ABOVE the shores of Loch Cluani the slopes of A??? Chr??laig rise steeply and without respite to its 1,120m (3,674ft) summit. From the crest of its south ridge I expect to behold fine and uninterrupted...
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Days Like This, No 12: Dawn on Dove Crag
WALKING is a dangerous business. Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov has just been stabbed while walking over Waterloo Bridge. And get this: his assailant used an umbrella with a poisoned tip. We down...
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Done on Great Dun Fell
THERE are certain things in this world on which you should never depend and one of them is the weather forecast. I???ll think of a few more before I???m through, but the weather forecast will suffice...
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